


Hedgehogs and Raccoons

by Pepper_Sanders



Category: SKAM (France)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - High School, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 13:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19946995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pepper_Sanders/pseuds/Pepper_Sanders
Summary: American High School AUEliott and Lucas are best friends, but Eliott has been in love with Lucas for several years. Now that Lucas is dating the most popular boy at school, will Eliott finally have the courage to let him know how he feels before it's too late?





	Hedgehogs and Raccoons

Eliott sat at the lunch table with Idriss and Sofiane. He was feeling down and moody, and had really considered skipping school that day but had already missed too many days that semester. Principal Allen had warned him if he missed any more days, he wouldn’t be able to graduate with the rest of the senior class and would have to attend summer school.

Sofiane patted his arm in pity. “You have to be happy for him, Eliott. He had a rough time last year and now he’s dating the most popular guy in school. Lance is the first openly gay quarterback at Davis High. They are couple royalty here – top of the social food chain. Lance’s dad owns half of the town. He’s rich and good looking. The girls here fan-girl over them like they’re Hollywood celebrities, and he’s actually popular now.”

“Gee, Sofiane, thanks for pointing all of that out to me,” Eliott groaned. He looked over at Idriss who was quietly chuckling. “How do I even compete with all that? He is such a tool; he eats all that attention up. Everyone thinks he’s so brave, but he’s a jerk.”

“He is pretty brave, though,” Idriss said. “He’s taken a lot of abuse for being out and the face of the Bulldogs…the whole team has to face some hurtful, hateful ignorance, especially when we travel. It’s pretty progressive here, not so much in a lot of other places.”

“Well, when you put it like that…I honestly need new friends,” Eliott grumbled. “Look, I fucking support what he’s doing, but I still hate him as a person.”

“Are you sure it’s not just jealousy?” Idriss asked.

“He’s controlling, I don’t think he’s ever liked me, and he was the biggest bully when we were kids.”

“Maybe he knows you’re in love with his boyfriend. You and Lucas are pretty close,” Sofiane pointed out. “The only one who seems blind to your whipped puppy dog eyes is Lucas.”

“I’m not whipped.” Eliott squinted his eyes at his friends…he really had to consider finding new friends. “Lucas never thinks anyone likes him. It’s what makes him so fucking adorable. Half the school wants to get in his pants.”

“I’m in the other half…Jinx,” Sofiane and Idriss said at the same time, playfully tagging each other with a punch to the arm and laughing raucously.

“Very mature guys,” Eliott chided. “Do I mess with you about Imane?” he asked, looking at Sofiane. “Or Ingrid?” he asked pointing to Idriss.

“Yes,” they both said in unison.

“Seriously, though,” Idriss continued, “Lucas is your best friend, and you’ve been crushing on him since middle school. You’ve been his protector since elementary school. I told you to tell him how you felt about him last year.”

“He had just come out, and he was having all those problems at home with his parents,” Eliott explained. “I didn’t want to make things more complicated for him.”

“Ok, that’s understandable, but what about when he first told you about Lance?” Idriss asked.

Eliott shrugged. “Lance is still a jerk,” he mumbled. He looked up. “Shhh….Don’t turn around, Lucas is heading this way.”

Of course, both Idriss and Sofiane turned around at the same time. Lucas fist bumped each of them and then circled around the table to grab Eliott around the neck and kiss him on the cheek. He was relieved that Lucas couldn’t see the googly eyes Sofiane made at the public display of affection.

He swung his backpack around and sat it on the table before sitting beside Eliott. “So, Lance is throwing a party Saturday, and we’re pre-gaming at my Aunt Lisa’s house. She’s been letting me crash there and is cool with me hosting this weekend.” He looked at Eliott. “Do you want to go shopping with me Saturday morning? I need new kicks.” Lucas looked down at his shoes, which still looked pretty new. “Lance says I need to get the latest season.”

“I thought you didn’t care about shit like that?” Eliott asked.

“I don’t,” Lucas admitted. “But Lance does.” Lucas shrugged as if it were nothing to change his whole personality for a stupid jock. “Are you gonna ask Lucille to the prom?”

“I don’t know,” Eliott answered. Sofiane raised an eyebrow.

“Or, what about Jadon. Didn’t you have a crush on Jadon?” Lucas asked.

Eliott moaned. “That was three years ago, Lucas.”

“Lance knows him.”

“Lance knows him,” Eliott said in a sing-song mocking voice. “What? Are they in the Rainbow Illuminati or something?”

Idriss and Sofiane chuckled.

Lucas smirked, then squinted his eyes at Eliott. “Why are you acting so weird? Anyway, come shopping with me. I can talk to Jadon for you.”

“I don’t need you to play matchmaker for me, Lucas.”

Lucas ignored him. “Idriss, are you taking Ingrid?”

Idriss frowned, “I’m not sure.”

“She and Imane getting along, yet?”

“Are you the school Gazette now?” Eliott interrupted him. Imane was Idriss’s younger sister and Sofiane’s girlfriend. He knew it was a sore spot for both of them, and he didn’t want Lucas to ruin the delicate peace they had brokered when it came to the subject.

“No,” Lucas said, rolling his eyes. “Lance says I should care about all this stuff - know names, who’s dating who, buy people small things…shit like that. He wants to win prom king and king. They’re letting juniors and seniors go this year and it’s open voting for both levels, so he wants to be the first gay couple in Davis history to win.”

“He just wants it for the fame…not to make a real difference,” Eliott grumbled.

“I think you have him all wrong, but either way, it does make a difference. Some kid in Iowa sees us in an article and he feels a little less scared, a little more hopeful…a little braver.”

“Lucas, he used to bully you in grade school. He gave you a black eye in sixth grade. Did you get fucking amnesia before or after he got you off?”

“Hey dude, too far,” Idriss said.

Eliott knew before all the words were out of his mouth that he had gone too far. He hated seeing the pained look on Lucas’s face, hated himself for being the one to put it there, but couldn’t stop spewing negativity.

Eliott stood up, felt like he was having an out of body experience. “Did he tell you that he had a crush on you way back then, but all he could do was punch your face in because he didn’t know how else to deal with his wittle gay emotions?”

“You’re being a jerk,” Lucas said quietly. “That was years ago, and he did apologize for it.”

Eliott had to get out of there before he said something he couldn’t walk back. “I have to go. See you guys later.”

As he was leaving, he heard Lucas ask Idriss and Sofiane what was going on with him. He knew they wouldn’t reveal his secret. He wanted to turn around and apologize, but his hands were shaking and he felt his eyes prick with angry tears. Something had shifted inside him after seeing Lucas and Lance kissing that morning behind the cafeteria. He needed to clear his mind and decided then and there that he was skipping gym class; thankfully, it wasn’t considered a class he needed for graduation.

***

Eliott’s phone buzzed. He looked down to see a name that made the butterflies take flight. It had been a couple of days since his tantrum. He could admit to himself that he had acted childishly. Lucas knew him well, knew he needed a couple of days to cool off.

“Please help me!” Lucas pleaded. “Manon was supposed to help me pick out an outfit and new sneakers, but something came up with Charles, and she’s standing me up.”

“Lucas…I really don’t want to go.”

“Hedgehogs and Raccoons,” Lucas said.

Eliott groaned; he could almost see Lucas’s smug little smile through the phone. “You’re using one of your favors. It’s only April, you have so many months to go little grasshopper.”

It was their inside joke, but they could only use the phrase three times a year. The other person had to drop everything they were doing and help the other if they invoked it. Lucas had used it quite a bit when he was younger and needed help at home or with the kids who relentlessly bullied him. Eliott had used it quite a bit when he was younger and the depression hit him like a stone to the head, and cuddling with Lucas was the only thing that kept him sane. Lucas once told him that he never needed to use it for that reason, but he still had, although he hadn’t used it in the last couple of years.

An hour later and he was honking the horn of his beat-up Camaro outside of Lucas’s Aunt Lisa’s house. She came out to greet and hug him, her long, brown hair smelling faintly of lemon and something metallic. He knew she made her own shampoos and lotions and often smelled of the forest or fruit; it was one of the things he loved about her. He also liked her because she was sarcastic and irreverent, and didn’t care for Lance too much, as she also remembered how much he had tormented Lucas as a kid. She was also one of Lucas’s biggest supporters.

Lucas kissed his aunt as he opened the passenger side door to get in. He told her to watch the wings he had put in the oven for the party. She nodded and waved them off.

They spent an hour at the mall, and for a minute, Eliott forgot about everything that had been bothering him. They hung out and joked like they had done years before when it had been just the two of them before he had met Idriss and Sofiane in high school when Lucas still had a year left of middle school.

“Remember the pizza place that used to be here when we were kids?” he asked Lucas. The place was now some kind of beauty spa.

“Oh, yea…we used to steal all the free pizza coupons from Mr. Ginley’s desk. You know I never got sick of that pizza.”

“It was pretty disgusting, though,” Eliott said, remembering how they always sat in the corner booth near the soda fountain, heads down and touching, pouring over the latest comic book together.

“Only after having better,” Lucas admitted. Lucas’s blue eyes were bright as if he too were fondly remembering those times so long ago.

Lucas finally found an outfit and sneakers he thought Lance would approve of and they headed back to get ready for the party. When they arrived, a couple of their friends from school were playing video games in the living room. Lisa had placed the wings, chips, and dip on the table.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she said.

“That leaves a lot that could land us in jail,” Lucas joked.

“Ok, smartass, just don’t burn the place down. I’ll be back in a few hours. Make sure you lock up when you leave to go to Lance’s.” She rolled her eyes at the name, making sure that Eliott saw it but not Lucas. He chuckled as she kissed them both on the cheek before heading out for the night.

Their friends waved them over, but Lucas picked up the bag letting them know he would be out after changing. He told them to host and answer the door until he returned. He grabbed Eliott’s arm and pulled him to the back of the house where his small bedroom was located.

Eliott sat on the bed while Lucas changed clothes. He averted his eyes but stole glances at him when he thought Lucas wasn’t paying attention. He loved everything about him: the small moles like mini constellations that dotted his lithe body, the light freckles on his nose that were only visible when summer came around, the way his smile lit up a room.

Lucas finally finished dressing and sat on the bed next to him, his arm brushed Eliott’s own. The touch gave him goosebumps, made him catch his breath. Spending time with Lucas at the mall and recalling how close they had been when they were younger had made him remember all the times Lucas had been there for him, had been his confidante and saving grace. He barely registered Lucas asking him if he liked the outfit. He only saw Lucas’s mouth and those ocean-blue eyes before he leaned over and kissed him, pulling Lucas’s pliant lips into his mouth. He kissed him, and the years of pining turned into a hungry need to fill himself up with the taste of the boy he had loved for so long. Lucas stilled at first and then began kissing him back before a door slam broke them apart.

They realized it had been Lucas’s door, which had not been closed all the way shut.

“Oh shit, oh shit,” Lucas said as he raced out the room.

Eliott was stunned. He didn’t know why he had chosen that time to suddenly make a bold move, but he had no regrets. He would let the chips fall where they would.

A few minutes later and he heard Lance in the living room and then Lucas frantically whispering as their voices neared the room.

Lance burst through the door. He was wearing his Letterman jacket and a white t-shirt with dark blue jeans. His ash-blonde hair was messier than usual, as though he had just roughly ran his hands through it. His green eyes blazed with anger as they locked with Eliott’s blue ones. Eliott stood, not wanting to meet the bigger boy’s wrath in such an unfavorable position. They were both tall and slim, both about six feet in height, but Lance was wider in the shoulders, had packed more muscle onto his slim frame.

“Did you kiss him, Lucas? Did you kiss him? Marcus told me he was coming to ask you about the beer and saw you two kissing.” He was yelling at Lucas, and Eliott instinctively wanted to protect him. Lance hadn’t been known to punch anyone since middle school, but he wasn’t taking any chances and jumped in between the two of them.

“It was my fault, Lance,” he admitted trying to direct the larger boy’s anger toward him. It worked because Lance turned to face him, their faces mere inches apart. “Lucas didn’t kiss me back,” he lied.

“I never trusted you, never liked you, even though Idriss always vouched for you.” Before Eliott could respond, he felt something land heavily against his face. It had happened so fast. One minute they had been facing each other and the next minute, he was on the floor with Lucas leaning over him, calling his name.

He was dizzy. He touched his face and felt something wet. He looked down and saw blood on his hands. He looked up to see Lance head out of the door followed by Lucas. Everything was muffled, and there was ringing in his ears. Lucas turned to face him and mouthed for him to stay there.

As soon as they left the room, Eliott pulled himself from the floor and left out the window.

***

When he finally made it home, he rinsed his face and stopped the bleeding. He made an ice pack to hold against his nose. It wasn’t broken, or at least he didn’t think it was broken, but judging by the way it throbbed, it would be swollen and bruised for weeks.

Lucas, Idriss, and Sofiane tried to call him several times, but he ignored the buzzing. They started texting him, but he ignored the pings, finally cutting his phone off and crawling into the bed to nurse his wounds, both emotional and physical. Lucas had left him bleeding on the floor. He had chased after Lance. Eliott knew he had been wrong for kissing him. He should have just told him how he had been feeling, but he had been scared. He was scared that Lucas would reject him because he was only able to see him as a good friend. Or worse, that he wouldn’t reject him, and that a toxic romantic relationship would ruin their perfectly good platonic one.

He jumped when he heard a knock on his window.

“Let me in, idiot!” He heard Lucas’s voice and stood up to peer out the window near his bed.

He opened the screen to let Lucas in. Lucas threw a bag of something inside before heaving his body over the frame and onto the bed.

“I brought your favorite snacks and some pain meds.”

Eliott reached over to click on the lamp next to his bed. The light was dim leaving most of the room in shadows.

“Are you alright?” Lucas asked. He gently touched Eliott’s face, turning it to towards him so he could study Eliott’s nose. “Ok, put the ice back on it. I’ve seen worse…on myself.” Lucas paused. “Sorry I didn’t listen to you. Guess a tiger doesn’t change his stripes. He is still a bully.”

“I would’ve punched me, too,” Eliott admitted. He couldn’t believe he was actually defending Lance. “You know…if I were some cowardly jerk who kissed you while we were dating.”

Lucas laughed, “Oh, really?” He placed his hand on Eliott’s leg. “You’re not a coward.”

Eliott huffed. “But I am a jerk?”

“Hell, yes. Why did you leave? I was going to grab the first aid kit and tell everyone to leave. I punched Lance and kicked everyone out, and when I returned, you’d ghosted me.”

“You punched Lance?”

“Don’t sound so shocked…Well, I attempted to, but he blocked it pretty effortlessly,” Lucas chuckled. “I did tear his precious Letterman jacket. I think he was more pissed about that than the fact that we had kissed. Ugh, and that fucking Marcus.”

“Fucking Marcus,” Eliott agreed.

“You know Lance had the nerve to call me and tell me he’s taking Jadon to the prom. He didn’t even give me a chance to explain.”

“I’m sorry. He was rightfully hurt. You probably did break his wittle heart.”

“Shut up.”

They both sat in silence for a minute, Eliott holding the bag of melting ice on his lap while Lucas opened the bottle of Tylenol and gave him a couple of tablets to take along with a bottle of water.

“You know you always protected me when we were little…seems like you’re still doing it. If I never told you before, thank you…for everything.”

“You’ve always been there for me, too. I went through some pretty dark times when I was younger. I don’t think I would even be here if it weren’t for you.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true.”

He studied Lucas as he looked up at the ceiling. There were a few neon green stars still there, evidence of the time when he and Lucas had stuck three bagfuls of glow-in-the-dark stickers on the ceiling because Lucas had been afraid of the dark when he slept over as a kid.

“I didn’t know.” Lucas finally said after more quiet minutes had passed.

“Really?” Eliott asked.

“We’ve always been affectionate…close. You’re my best friend, but I thought you saw me as a little brother even though we’re not that far apart in age. You were always so much bigger and cooler.”

“Me, cooler?” Eliott huffed out a laugh. “Maybe I saw you like that when we were little kids, but I think something changed around middle school. By the time I came to terms with how I really felt about you, I decided I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.”

“I don’t want to mess that up, either,” Lucas said quietly. “But we have a problem.”

“What’s that?” Eliott asked.

“I can’t get that kiss out of my head.”

Lucas took the bag of melting ice from Eliott’s hand and placed it on the window sill. He gently grabbed Eliott’s face, first softly kissing the bruised flesh of his nose and then his mouth. Eliott closed his eyes, relishing the moment he had dreamed about for so long. Lucas stilled, which made Eliott open his eyes. They stared at each other, each breathing in the other’s breath, their heads touching. Lucas kissed him again, first softly and then with more pressure. Eliott returned the kiss, opened his mouth to Lucas’s tongue, tasted his mouth with his own. Lucas groaned, which caused Eliott to deepen the kiss even more. He felt as if he were being consumed from the inside out. He felt like he would never be able to get enough of Lucas – of his mouth, his hands, his friendship, his heart.

“Hedgehogs and raccoons,” Lucas whispered into his mouth.

Eliott pulled back, stared intently into the eyes that he knew by heart. “What do you want?” he asked.

“Just you,” Lucas answered. “Just you.”


End file.
